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Friday, September 20, 2013

Recipe for a relaxing beach day

So, it's been about 6 weeks of Joel being away on the weekdays for work. It's been rough, honestly. This mom needed some family time and some relax time. And I think the kids needed some special time too, even though they hadn't asked for it. I really wanted to get away from the typical daily grind. I used to get everything cleaned up before Saturday so that we could enjoy a peaceful weekend, but lately, I can't manage to do that without Joel home on the weeknights and things are just as crazy on the weekend - or crazier!

So a couple Saturday's ago, we packed up and headed for our favorite ocean beach spot - New Castle Beach. They have grass, picnic tables, charcoal grills, play ground, covered pavilions, bathrooms and a beautiful beach area. I highly recommend it. I think it cost us $6 to get in. So not bad at all.

It was awesome. We just weren't in a rush. I loved it. Food together as a family, beach time, reading time, Isaac loved the tent, Noah loved digging in the sand... No chores, no dishes, laundry, dust, or other projects to stare me down. Just a gorgeous day with my amazing family.

The grass spot

The Beach Spot

Investigating

Making dinner.

Our recipe for a relaxing day at the beach?

Have the stuff so no one was bored, hungry, uncomfortable, or crazy.
Have Isaac's gate with us, toys, coloring book and tons of sand toys so that the kids wouldn't get bored.
Books and tablet (that has other books) for me so that I could enjoy the beach my favorite way!
Multiple changes of clothes and swim stuff.
A cooler full of food and a bag of charcoal (and lighter fluid - but we forgot that and had to go get it).

We found an awesome kids tent and two beach mats at yard sales on the way and those ended up rocking the party.

A good, relaxed attitude. We didn't care how long it took us to get from point A to point B. Or how long it took to change the kids. And planning to stay as long as we could, meant we never felt like we had to rush to the next spot just to fit everything in.

Leaving at the right time.
We left late morning so that the kids would fall asleep and take an early nap. When we go there, I made peanut butter, banana sandwiches and we enjoyed some time on the grass. Next was the beach. And then back to a picnic table for grilled corn on the cob and burgers with bbq sauce and tomatoes for dinner. The kids fell asleep on the ride home again.

2 comments:

Sounds lovely! Great thoughts about planning ahead... I know so many people who go somewhere and don't take things for their littles to do and then it's utter chaos trying to keep them out of trouble and occupied. :)

Yes, I imagined that happening if I didn't plan stuff for them. If the day was only a treat for them, we could each take one and just follow them everywhere, but Joel and I really needed to relax too. Joel enjoyed the grilling and Noah was pretty easy going in the sand. Everyone ended up having fun their own way.

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